The Annual Heritage Days Festival, Mount Vernon’s biggest summer festival, will take place Wednesday July 6, through Saturday July 9, with a theme of “Happy 175th Birthday MV!”
The event will be hosted by the Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center, Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Charitable Development Group (CCDG) in partnership with the Mount Vernon Alumni Association, the City of Mount Vernon, Kernoustie Golf Club, the Mount Vernon Area Arts Council and several other local organizations.
Highlights of the four-day festival will include fireworks, a kids fun run, bouncy houses and inflatables, carnival games, bags tournament, a parade, the Memorial Park Family Fun Zone, live music and a new family-friendly storytelling event.
“The Heritage Days committee continues to think outside the box with expanding partnerships and creative programming in an attempt to grow the event while staying true to our roots,” said Joe Jennison, Director of Main Street and Marketing for the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Charitable Development Group (CCDG). “We are grateful to our two main sponsors The City of Mount Vernon and the Mount Vernon Alumni Association who are making this event possible with their financial support, and hope everyone will come out and join us to celebrate our 175th birthday!”
The event will kick off Wednesday, July 6, at the First Street Community Center, 221 1st St NE, Mount Vernon, with a performance of “Mount Vernon, Lisbon and Me,” a free, family-friendly storytelling event that will take place on the First Street Community Center (FSCC) lawn.
On Thursday, July 7, the Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center, 855 Palisades Road SW, will be hosting bouncy houses, food trucks, and live music from 5 to 9 p.m. A showing of the movie “Alice in Wonderland (2016)” will take place at 9:15 p.m.
On Friday, July 8, at noon, the Kernoustie Golf Club, 203 Country Club Drive SE, will be hosting a 3-person best shot golf tournament.
Later that night, look for the fireworks display at dark and come early to enjoy a variety of activities. A food and beer tent will be open from 5:50 to 9:30 p.m., there will be a kids fun run at 6:30 p.m., a Balloon Glow from 6-9 p.m., inflatables from 6:30-8:30 p.m., and a bagpiper at 8:45 p.m., followed by fireworks at dark. To register for the golf tournament, contact the Kernoustie Clubhouse at (319) 895-8193.
On Saturday, July 9, the day begins at 8 a.m. with an alumni-community breakfast at the Mount Vernon High School Commons, followed by the main events that take place in Uptown. These events include the Heritage Days Parade at 10:30 a.m. (lineup at 9:30 a.m.), bags tournament, trackless train, carnival games, bingo, alumni reception, food vendors, and a beer tent.
NOTE: This year, parade line-up will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Bill and Myrt Bowers farm, 203 Old Lincoln Highway NW. Walkers and marchers are asked to line up at the base of the Old Lincoln Highway Bridge near the Cornell Football field, and then join the rest of the parade as it makes its way down 1st Street.
At noon poet laureate Amelia Kibbe will do a reading, followed by a short performance by the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Theatre and a reading from the constitution by the American Legion. DJ music will be playing from 5 to 8 p.m. and the Crazy Delicious Band will perform from 8 p.m. to midnight.
The Mount Vernon pool will have a Happy 175th Birthday, MV! themed night from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and a Movie Night showing the animated version of “Alice in Wonderland (1951)” from 9-11 p.m.
Returning this year will be the Memorial Park Family Fun Zone from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with an “Alice in Wonderland” Birthday Party theme that offers children and families the opportunity to play themed activities and meet costumed characters from the beloved book and movie.
Heritage Days is an annual Mount Vernon event that seeks to bring the community together, including a large number of MV School Alumni, and raise funds for, and awareness of, community-based organizations.
Several local organizations will use this event to raise money for local projects. Some of those organizations include the Mount Vernon Volunteer Firefighters and the Mount Vernon Wrestling Club.
A complete Heritage Days schedule is available here: https://visitmvl.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/HD-SCHEDULE.pdf
Sign up for the bags tournament directly with Aaron Truitt at [email protected] or through phone at (319) 560-4477